Kewaunee holds on to top Algoma in War on the Shore
ALGOMA – The 125th installment of the War on the Shore between the Kewaunee and Algoma football teams was a real dandy.
The Storm escaped with a 26-21 victory Friday night over the host Wolves at Perry Field in Northeastern Wisconsin’s oldest rivalry.
Not many people from either of the lakeshore towns would have forecasted such a close game.
Kewaunee came into the matchup outscoring its first two opponents 101-21 and a roster almost twice the size of Algoma’s.
But the Wolves seemingly played with twice as much heart in almost pulling the upset and picking up their first win in the series since 2003.
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” Algoma coach Wade Vandervest said. “You want to put forth an effort that people can be proud of. Like I was telling the kids, make your community proud of what you’re doing out here. We might have only 23 (players), but dang it, give us all of your effort. Because if you’re doing things with all-out effort, good things will happen to you.”
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The Wolves (0-3) definitely got off to a good start against the Storm in taking a 7-0 lead with a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown by junior Jordon Deringer on the first series of the game.
The Storm (3-0) followed with 19 unanswered points, including a 74-yard touchdown by junior Owen Kudick on a screen pass from junior Ryan Carmichael for its first points. Kudick finished with a game-high 134 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns overall.
“We can always count on Algoma bringing its A-game against us,” Kewaunee coach Randy Charles said. “It doesn’t matter where they’re at or how their year is going to go, they always bring their A-game. We knew it was going to be a dogfight right to the end. That’s what they gave us. That’s what really impressed me about those guys was they stuck with it and kept grinding and grinding and grinding. They won’t let go.”
Algoma closed the gap to 19-14 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half when senior quarterback Max Panger drove into the end zone on a 1-yard sneak.
The Wolves looked poised to take the lead on the first series of the second half when they drove to the Kewaunee 5 before being stopped on downs.
The drive was extended thanks to a running into the kicker penalty on a punt and having an interception by Kewaunee senior Alex Hewett wiped away by another penalty. The Storm committed six penalties for 81 yards in the contest.
“We definitely have to take that as a wake-up call and make sure we’re prepared and ready to go,” Charles said. “We made a lot of mistakes, so we have to get those cleaned up.”
The Storm was able to put the game away when senior Wyatt Kruse made an interception, which set up a first-and-goal from the Algoma 8 with 3 minutes remaining in the game.
Kudick scored a 5-yard TD run a couple plays later to extend the lead to 26-14.
The Wolves ended the contest with a strong finish, putting together a 10-play, 74-yard drive capped by another 1-yard sneak from Panger with 19 seconds remaining.
Panger completed 13 of 29 passes for 145 yards, while senior Zach Dellis led the Wolves on the ground with 21 carries for 85 yards.
“Both teams battled hard,” Vandervest said. “That’s good high school football. That’s what it boils down to.”
Kewaunee outgained Algoma 320-259 in yards of offense. Senior Travis Reinke had a TD run and led the Storm defense with 8 tackles, including one for a loss.
Senior McCoy Walechka added six tackles and an interception, while junior Tanor Bortolini recorded five tackles with three for losses and a sack.
Dellis posted a game-high 13 tackles for the Wolves, including 11 solo stops. Junior Oliver Robertson added nine tackles and a fumble recovery.
Kewaunee will travel to Brussels next week for a matchup with reigning MONLPC-Large champion Southern Door, which has won 20 straight conference games.
Meanwhile, Algoma will attempt to pick up its first win of the season at Oconto. Despite the rough start, the Wolves can still become WIAA playoff eligible if they win three of their remaining five conference games.
“We told them to trust that we’re doing the right things and keep fighting hard,” Vandervest said. “If you do that, these games will become W’s for us. We’re trying to get that bear off our back because everyone basically railroaded us last year. Now it’s a matter of we’re going to fight through these games.”
Thank you to Algoma Fire and Rescue & Kewaunee PR Committee for sponsoring Preps Agenda's coverage of the 125th meeting…
Posted by Preps Agenda on Saturday, September 1, 2018
Kewaunee 7 12 0 7 – 26
Algoma 7 7 0 7 – 21
First quarter
A – Jordon Deringer 71 interception return (Deringer kick)
K – Owen Kudick 74 pass from Ryan Carmichael (Alex Hewett kick)
Second quarter
K – Travis Reinke 1 run (Kick failed)
K – Kudick 6 run (Run failed)
A – Max Panger 1 run (Deringer kick)
Fourth quarter
K – Kudick 5 run (Hewett kick)
A – Panger 1 run (Deringer kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – K: Kudick 24-134, Reinke 7-35, Carmichael 4- -5; A: Zach Dellis 21-85, Panger 8-28, Deringer 2-1, Oliver Robertson 3-0.
Passing – K: Carmichael 6-16-1-144; A: Panger 13-29-2-145.
Receiving – K: Kudick 1-74, Alex Hlinak 2-39, McCoy Walechk. 2-23, Jason Selner 1-8; A: Deringer 4-75, Dane Johnson 3-32, Robertson 2-16, Zach Schmidt 1-11, Brett Benesh 1-9, Dellis 2-2.